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Dice superstitions

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FastJack

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« Reply #30 on: <09-22-10/1529:54> »
You can be sure you won't lose them in the couch too!  Of course, they aren't guaranteed against pets and small children... ;)

Dead Monky

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« Reply #31 on: <09-22-10/1543:22> »
29%?  I've never noticed rolling anywhere near that many ones.  Eh, whatever.

street.mage

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« Reply #32 on: <09-22-10/2151:16> »
I just like all my dice the same or as a set; and I occasionally buy new dice if I like them.  I absolutely HATE dice I can't read.  Good contrast is a must.  I also tend to pick out dice that "fits" my character.  Magic user?  Depends on the favorite spell, but usually Lightning or Fire.  Then I get Crackly Blue (preferably clear/marble type dice) or fiery red with orange speckles.  Street Sam?  Silverish, Gold, or some metal type dice is a must.  if I can't get a metal, I get metallic paints on the pips/numbers.  Nature character?  I try and find a "natural" set, like from a stone or bone.  If not, i get the colors of nature; green generally.

I can really see the mixing of dice with a heavily chaotic character or shapeshifter.

Welshman

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« Reply #33 on: <09-22-10/2328:16> »
I don't... really talk about the dice. There's nothing good that comes from talking about them.

Suffice to say, it's ugly stuff. ;)

Oh no, Hellbie, you don't think we're going to let you off that easy are you? Do I have to drag Ben over here to tell tales first hand?

Folk's in the hardcore BattleTech community there is a saying, it's one spoken in angered whispers if you are afflicted by it and in great sweeping tales if you are witness to it. The legend of Hellbie dice are without par.

You have here the maker of that legend. Don't let him off the hook.

 ;D
The Welshman
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FastJack

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« Reply #34 on: <09-23-10/0031:27> »
<orders home delivery of one month's supply of Starkaf's premium kaf blend to Hellbie's home address>

Do tell!

Quid Pro Quo: Sometimes I gets lucky. Hence, the reason the superstitions stay. One battle I had my Samurai fighting a Sword spider. One-on-one (the other members of the group were focusing on the other two spiders). By this time, I had 5 attacks with two-weapon fighting. I rolled them up and got 4 natural 20's. Then confirmed those bad-boys. The other PCs had to stop and gawk as the GM declared I had systematically removed all eight legs before cutting its body in half (lengthwise) before it hit the ground. I then helped them with their problems.

Welshman

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« Reply #35 on: <09-23-10/0045:47> »
Luck has a factor in Hellbie's games.

When he shows up, everyone else knows they'll be getting lucky. :)

Seriously HB, I could third had tell tales on you, but you are such a better story teller.
The Welshman
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Chaotic Insane

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« Reply #36 on: <09-23-10/0732:12> »
Sounds like Hellbringer is up there with dad's losing initiative for a year straight.

His combat was fine. He just never. Ever. Won initiative.
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Doc Chaos

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« Reply #37 on: <09-23-10/0904:59> »
I used to be really superstitious. Never let anyone touch my dice, pre-rolled out 1's, kept them in a dark, dry place in a silk sheet...

Now I just don't give a fuck. Except for my shadowrun dice (the ones with the shadowrun snake on the 5 and 6), those are sacred, but only because they were a birthday gift from my best friend. Which gives them superpowers. Just sayin'...
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Chaotic Insane

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« Reply #38 on: <09-23-10/0908:23> »
I'm like that with my uncle's dice and a family friend's. They're not a matched set, but I use them anyway because they were left to me.

Though really I shouldn't use them. My uncle had a very, very twisted sense of humor. -_- I wouldn't be surprised if he's jinxed them from the other side or something. XD
"People say I hate the living. It's not true. I just happen to see the potential inside all people; those great things anyone can do if they aren't trapped in their own consciousness and morals. And when I unlock that potential, death is the side-effect. I can't help that." - Dr. McMourning

Doc Chaos

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« Reply #39 on: <09-23-10/0914:13> »
I had another superstition though, which died when I switched to excel character sheets. Back in the day, when I wrote down a new character which I thought was cool and the tip of the pencil broke, so I would have had to resharpen the pencil... I threw the character right out. Never failed me. I kind of thought "Hey, if this is Karma, then I guess Excel will crash if I roll up a shitty character." Never happened.
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Chaotic Insane

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« Reply #40 on: <09-23-10/0918:11> »
XD I'm too heavy handed of a writer to go by that. I don't trust myself to have computer based character sheets. If my computer is open I am on the internet and if I am on the internet chances are I am NOT PAYING ATTENTION.

Like I keep opening my computer to update my Mythweaver sheet for Doom like he's been asking... every single time it's photoshop and deviantART that opens for some bizzare reason... It's so weird! >.>;;
"People say I hate the living. It's not true. I just happen to see the potential inside all people; those great things anyone can do if they aren't trapped in their own consciousness and morals. And when I unlock that potential, death is the side-effect. I can't help that." - Dr. McMourning

The_Gun_Nut

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« Reply #41 on: <09-23-10/1002:15> »
I will note one odd thing about a certain D20 I have.  Whenever I played my 4E D&D rogue, the first attack roll of every combat was a critical hit with this die.  Every single one.

I need to emphasize that again.  Whenever I rolled the first attack of a combat with this one D20 with my 4E rogue (and only this character) it got a critical hit.

EVERY.  SINGLE.  TIME.

It was downright odd.
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Chaotic Insane

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« Reply #42 on: <09-23-10/1004:01> »
My dad had a player once that had this ugly crap-brown d20 that would just about ALWAYS roll criticals... only when in his hands. Dad suspected it was loaded and tossed it a few times and it rolled normal for EVERYONE ELSE but that one player.
"People say I hate the living. It's not true. I just happen to see the potential inside all people; those great things anyone can do if they aren't trapped in their own consciousness and morals. And when I unlock that potential, death is the side-effect. I can't help that." - Dr. McMourning

FastJack

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« Reply #43 on: <09-23-10/1011:35> »
Well, I've known more than a few gamers that have perfected the dice toss to always get the result they wanted. To the point where I can spot the techniques at various gaming tables. Another good reason to buy people dice cups as gifts... ;)

Usda Beph

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« Reply #44 on: <09-23-10/1143:04> »
Casino dice are the truest rolling dice you are going to see at a game table.  I highly recommend them.

The dice with the pips out roll low numbers more often than high numbers.  This isn't superstition, this is science fact.  When you dig the pips out, the mass of each facing changes slightly.  The more pips, the less mass that facing has.  And because of momentum:

P = m * v

the more mass a side has, the more momentum that side has.  This makes it more likely to rebound away from the table.  If the die has rounded edges, then it requires less energy to roll over or bounce to another face.

Factoring all this in, the "6" face has more mass taken from it, therefore it has less momentum => less likely to roll over => more likely to stop with the "1" face up.  The same can be said of the "2" and "3" face, but these become less pronounced as the difference in momentum of each face pair becomes smaller and smaller.

Of course, if you are using faces with numbers instead of pips, one has to calculate the mass removed from each face at that point.  That is a lot more calculation, and not terribly useful, as the difference in momentum is likely to be very small.  Since pips are the most popular D6 style, however, it is something to consider.
What the simian said. Not to mention that dice are 'pipped' so that all opposite sides equal 7 so that the balance is as equalized as can be.

In an SPC (Statistical Process Control) Class I was in the teacher brought in 4 d6 and everyone in the class made 10 rolls. When the totals were calculated our Rbar(statistical average) was 4.8. I asked why so high? The teach was puzzled cause they normally averaged 4.3. Turns out 2 of the dice had no 1 or 2. They had 3,3,4,4,5,6. But statistically you will average 4.3 when rolling d6s

My clan wolf faction dice is an anomily then. Because I had more head hits with them than eny other set of dice ever! I miss those dice!
« Last Edit: <09-23-10/1145:17> by Usda Beph »
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